


Reunited at Last

by BrainStewed



Category: The Ballad of Captain Irene, The Craigg
Genre: Other, The Craigg - Freeform, Wordplay Ensemble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 10:46:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6953503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrainStewed/pseuds/BrainStewed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Craigg crashlands on an eerily familiar Island; captain Irene finds an eerily familiar face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunited at Last

Irene wiped her eyes groggily and reached a hand up to still her head. The ship seemed to spin slowly on the shore… wait, shore? She’d crash landed on an island it seemed. She looked around her surroundings taking it all in. She’d been on plenty of islands now, having been a pirate for a good couple of years. 

She wasn’t captain anymore. There wasn’t any mutiny like Jones and Baedecker had planned. No, she just couldn’t do it. Not without Epoch. Nothing seemed to make sense for a while without him. In fact, the moment he disappeared, she practically threw the captain title back to Baedecker. He seemed to understand, which only made Irene feel worse, thinking that he must’ve felt this at some point. He must’ve felt exactly what it was like to lose a friend. For the first time, she felt emphathy for the former captain. She thought to herself that day that nobody should ever have to know what it feels like to lose a friend.

He did offer to take her home to Westwind, back to her comfortable living with miss Aella, with her books, with herself. That was the part she didn’t want to go back to. Herself. She couldn’t stand being alone with herself; it gave her too much time to think. She told Baedecker to stay on whatever course they’d been on, as long as it was far away from home. 

Just now, she wasn’t sure where she was, but was positive it wasn’t Westwind. The Craigg was stuck in the beach, not too badly damaged it seemed. 

“Baedecker, you alright captain?” She called out, with no answer. She waited for a moment. Stillness.

“Baedecker? Hello?” She called out again, but there was still nothing but silence. She stood up and turned around, seeing nobody else on the ship. She walked to the trap door leading to the bunks, checking for any of the crew members below.

“Al, Caligula, Phobus? Helloo?” She climbed down the ladder. “Are any of you down here?”  
The ship was silent besides the creaking noises and the sound of her boots clacking against the wood floor. She called out once more.

“Jones? Pomegranate, please answer me. Don’t make me cast a mandolin macaroon on you!” But she already knew she wouldn’t hear his voice. She looked around for any sign that the crew was there, or had been there at all for that matter. But much to her dismay, there was no sign of life anywhere. 

“Well,” she started, speaking to herself. “I must be dreaming. It’s not like the entire crew could’ve just abandoned ship.”

But really, she was starting to think about that possibility. After all, the last time she’d thought something was just a dream, she’d been very, very wrong.

She sat down on a barrel quietly. The whole ship was almost silent. It wasn’t eerie, nor calm, but melancholy. Like before, Irene was now left alone with her thoughts. She wanted to continue calling out for Jones or Baedecker, pretending there would be a reply, so at least she could act like someone else was there to distract her. 

Being lonely made the ship seem so much smaller. The wooden floor and walls seemed to lean inwards, suffocating her, making her chest tighten and ears ring. She sat upright and climbed the ladder as fast as she could, then leapt off the ship, landing with a thud on soft, warm sand. 

She steadied herself on the beach, then fell to the sand and watched the ocean. The waves crashed too quietly almost, and the salt sprayed her face. With the water hitting her, the warm sand beneath her, and nobody but herself for miles, she felt extremely vulnerable. And so for the first time in a long time, let herself go. She let tears pool up in her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She let them fall into the sand and mix with the salty sea water. She didn’t wipe at them or try to hide her sobs. She just let it all run. 

“Geez, what’re you doing? Just a while ago you wouldn’t even smile in front of me, much less cry.”

Irene whipped her head around to see a familiar face. Messy green hair fell around the face, dusted with freckles, with two bright blue eyes shining.  
But it wasn’t him. It was impossible, unless this really was a dream, but she’d begun to doubt that.

“Oh. You uh, you must have the wrong person. I’ve never been here before.”

The boy in front of her cocked his head to one side.

“Sure you have. It wasn’t that long ago, if I’m doing this whole “time” thing correctly.” He grinned and picked up a stick on the beach.

“And I know you remember. ‘Cause you promised me.” He held the stick out for Irene to grab. She hesitantly took hold of it.

“You promised you wouldn’t forget me.” He finished, pulling her up off the ground.

Irene looked at Epoch. Waves crashed over her mind heavily. Sadness, happiness, anger, love, confusion, misbelief. He seemed to notice this and dropped the stick, taking Irene’s hand in his.

“Look.” He started, his own eyes misting over. “Look, you’re holding my hand see?” Irene looked down at her hand in silence and tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

“See? I can touch you. It’s me.” His voice shook as he tightened his grip. Irene looked up at him and her voice broke.

“But you can’t- I couldn’t even hug you when you left!” She cried. Epoch smiled, tears rolling off his face.

“But now you can! It’s all okay, you don’t have to be sad anymore, see?”

Irene shook her head.

“No, you died! You moved on and I’m not supposed to see you! You’re supposed to be dead, and you weren’t supposed to come back for me!” She was hardly understandable between sobs. Epoch knelt down, pulling her to the sand gently.

“No, no, no, It’s okay! Look, I’m not alive.” He said, trying to calm his friend. She didn’t understand. 

“B-but, you- the ghost rules. You told me you couldn’t touch humans.”

Epoch gave her a sad smile and closed both hands around hers.

“I can’t.” He replied.

Irene was quiet. She understood now. She let this wash over her, trying to completely grasp the concept.

“I… I guess I don’t mind that much. Really. I mean, I’m here with you aren’t I?”

Epoch laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh, but Irene still managed to find comfort in it.

“I guess so, captain.” He smiled and brought her in for a hug. She held him tightly and spoke quietly.

“I know where we are now.”

Epoch smiled. Really smiled this time.

“And where’s that, captain Irene?”

Irene inhaled and exhaled deeply, she took a moment to listen to the white noise before answering calmly.

“Alba. We’re finally home.”


End file.
